Schism
by RowArk
Summary: Post 5b slow burn Swan Queen AU with a twist on the Split Queen story arc. Emma is in over her head dealing with a Storybrooke serial killer, while simultaneously trying to save Regina from herself. Multiple character deaths, none of which are Emma or Regina (and one of which is definitely Hook).
1. Chapter 1

**Fair warning: There will be multiple deaths in this story, but neither will be Regina or Emma so don't worry. If you've been following my Tumblr, however, this IS the story where Hook will die, so if you don't want to read that, then this is not the story for you. If you're going to send me hateful reviews because of it, they are just going to be deleted, so if this is not the story for you, just move on and don't waste everyone's time, alright?**

 **Also, I'm going to keep the graphic descriptions to a minimum, but there are a couple murders so there will be mention of things like blood. I won't make it too gorey because that's not the type of story this is.**

 **Schism**

By RowArk

* * *

 **Chapter One**

* * *

Emma Swan just couldn't catch a break.

At least, that's how it felt to her when she'd only just gotten back to Storybrooke from New York, after finding Henry and stopping Gold and literally watching Regina split herself into two. She'd hoped to be able to come home and just _relax_ for a little while _._ After all, it had only been days since they'd been in the literal underworld, fighting to stay alive, and regardless of the fact that she'd been the one to lead the way there, damn it, Emma was sure she deserved a day off.

But, one phone call from David and she was reminded that Saviors - and Sheriffs, apparently - don't get days off.

 _Emma, I need you to get down to the hospital. Something's going on there. I think it involves Whale._

Emma grumbled to herself as she laced up her boots. Of course David would be tied up dealing with some dwarf-related spat at the diner when the call came in from the nurse at the hospital. He couldn't even tell her what to expect when she got there, since the nurse hadn't even been able to give him any details.

In spite of everything, though, Emma had to admit that it felt good to pull on her red leather jacket and attach her Sheriff badge to the waistband of her jeans again. It had be so long - too long really - and she was amazed at how such a simple, routine action felt so oddly reassuring right now.

Maybe things really were getting back to normal, even if she didn't get to sleep in today.

Well, it would be a new normal, she supposed. A normal which involved a new, probably different Regina, who'd ripped out and destroyed the worst parts of herself, and who was still reeling from Robin's death. Emma had meant to go and see her today, and she hoped whatever was going on at the hospital wouldn't take too much time to sort out, and she could get there sooner rather than later.

She soon learned that was not going to be the case.

"What the hell…" Emma's voice trailed off as the young dark-haired nurse, Amelia, lead her into Whale's office, where the doctor lay, sprawled out on the floor, his limbs contorted at all sorts of unnatural looking angles and deep red blood staining the vast majority of his clothing, as well as pooled around him.

"It looks like he bled out," Amelia said, nodding as she crossed her arms.

"Bled out," Emma repeated, swallowing hard. Times like _this_ reminded her that she wasn't actually trained to be a cop. She was used to dealing with magical beings of every sort of nature. Everything she knew about real crime came from life experience, and a whole lot of procedural dramas on TV.

And she quickly realized she was no more prepared to handle this investigation than the nurse beside her was.

"Um…" Emma started, unable to tear her eyes off of Whale's body, but also making no effort to go in for a closer look. "Did anyone see… anything?"

Amelia shook her head. "No. His office door was locked from the inside, but the light was on and his car was here before I got here this morning, so I knew he had to be in there. When he wouldn't answer my knocking, I figured he was passed out drunk again, so I got the janitor to come and jimmy the lock. We found him like this and there was no one else inside."

Emma nodded, her eyes quickly scanning the rest of the room. "The, uh, perp could've gone through the window."

"It doesn't open."

"Of course it doesn't," Emma sighed. "So you and the janitor, you're the only witnesses, then? Where is he?"

Amelia smirked. "He passed out at the sight of the blood. Knocked himself out cold when he hit the ground. People underestimate how tough nurses are, you know."

"I bet," Emma agreed, before turning her attention back to Whale. "Did you check for vitals?"

"Seems kinda redundant at this point, doesn't it?"

"Right. Okay. Who… wow, who would even want to kill Dr. Whale?"

Amelia snorted. "Who wouldn't?"

"Good point. Does anyone in this hospital perform autopsies?"

For once, Amelia paused before answering, caught off guard. "Uh… you know, I don't think we've ever had to. No one really died during the curse and since it broke, not many have died of… non-magical reasons, you know?"

"Yeah. Good point. This, however, does not look magical."

Amelia's ever-present smirk faded then. "You think we've got an actual serial killer on the loose in Storybrooke."

Emma shook her head, quickly. "Okay, let's not jump the gun here, alright? One murder doesn't mean serial killer. Like you said, there's a lot of people in this town who have a beef with Whale. This could be an isolated incident. Let's get someone in here to get him down to the morgue and then you find out if any other doctors here were cursed with… knowledge of autopsies. I'll start… looking for evidence."

* * *

To Emma's relief, by the time Whale's body could be transported to the morgue, David was done with the dwarves and able to come and assist - not that he was all that much help either.

"Dad," Emma said, shaking her head. "We're in way over our heads here."

David stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the far wall. Amelia had provided them both with surgical booties to wear over their shoes to avoid contaminating the scene, and a massive supply of surgical grade latex gloves, but still neither of them knew exactly where to start.

"Do you know how to dust for prints?" Emma pressed, when David didn't immediately reply. "Or take blood samples?"

David shook his head.

"Shit… Dad, there's an actual murderer in Storybrooke and we are not qualified to deal with this."

"We have no other choice, Emma," David said, finally. "We've dealt with difficult situations before."

"Yeah. Difficult _magical_ situations. Situations where Regina or Gold or even the fairies knew what the hell to do. But, Dad… no amount of dream catchers or old library books on magic are going to help us here."

David nodded again, before reaching for the fingerprint kit he'd brought with him at Emma's request and left on Whale's desk upon entering the room. "Well, how hard can it be? We've taken on everything magical and impossible… we can handle a real-world problem."

Emma raised an eyebrow but nodded anyway. David was nothing if not an eternal optimist, and as much as that might annoy her at times, she supposed she could use a little optimism right now.

"Alright. You figure out how to dust for prints. I'm gonna see if anything was caught on camera or if there were any other possible witnesses."

* * *

An hour later, David had half a fuzzy fingerprint lifted, and Emma had 24 hours of video of no one but Whale going into his office before Amelia found him and no more eye witnesses.

"So what's next?" David asked, the optimism having faded from his face a little.

"I guess we seal the crime scene and wait for the results of the autopsy," Emma said, with a sigh, glancing up at the clock on the wall. "I'm supposed to go see Regina today."

"In the middle of a murder investigation?" David asked, before sighing as well. "Well, I guess there isn't much more you can do right now anyway. Go. I'll call you if anything new comes up."

"Thanks Dad."

Emma took a deep breath when she stepped out of the hospital and back into the open Storybrooke air. Part of her wondered if she should have called Regina right from the moment she found out Whale was dead, as she knew the Mayor would want to be informed of something amiss in her town, but she also didn't want to burden Regina with anything else just yet. She knew she had no choice though. Regina would need to know what was going on and it was best coming from her, she supposed. At the end of the day, Emma was still the Sheriff, and in spite of everything else, Regina was still technically her boss.

Truthfully, Emma didn't really know what to expect when she showed up at Regina's house. Though she'd agreed to support her, whatever decision she made, she wasn't exactly sure what ripping out half your personality and destroying it would do to a person. If there was one message that kept getting driven home again and again, it was that all magic came with a price, and deep down, Emma worried about the price of magically snuffing out your darker half.

On top of that, she knew Regina was still reeling from Robin's death. She knew a big part of Regina had probably really feared that she'd go down the same path she had when Daniel died, and though Emma believed she wouldn't, she still knew Regina didn't have that sort of faith in herself.

Still, she wondered how Regina would be coping without her darker side. Emma had long since figured out that a lot of Regina's former evil persona had been created as a defense mechanism to protect her and hide her vulnerabilities. Emma knew all too well about amour and building walls, and the security they provided, and she had to wonder how Regina was going to cope without it.

Of all the things Emma expected when she stepped into the entryway of Regina's mansion, piles upon piles of boxes along with a crib right in the middle of the foyer where not on the list.

"Regina?" Emma called out, tentatively, stepping around boxes on her way to the living room. Regina didn't answer, but the distinct sound of the Mayor bickering with her sister told Emma which direction to head.

Sure enough, she found them in the living room, Regina looking clearly annoyed with her arms crossed, glaring at her Zelena, and Zelena looking as defensive as she possibly could, with little Robyn nestled in her arms.

"Am I interrupting something?" Emma asked as she entered the room.

"Oh, no, I'm just about to _murder_ my sister," Regina spat, not looking away from Zelena.

"Um, okay, heh… funny you should mention murder…"

Regina narrowed her eyes and turned to look at Emma. "What?"

Emma let out a long sigh and began relaying the details of what had happened at the hospital. She would have prefered to talk to Regina alone, but she supposed if Zelena insisted on living with her sister, Emma was going to have to get used to her being around, and likely getting involved in their daily lives.

"So… yeah, we're waiting on the result of the autopsy now, I guess," Emma said, once the story was out.

"Wow," Zelena said, sounding half-surprised and half-amused. "This town really can't function without a villain, can it?"

"So, what were you two fighting about?" Emma asked, ignoring Zelena's comment.

"A.. feather. It's not important right now," Regina explained, brushing it off. "We need to deal with this."

"Regina… we? Are you sure-"

"Emma! I thought we'd been over this. You don't get to bench me."

"I wasn't… Regina, I mean, neither of us are really qualified to deal with something like this. And you've clearly got your hands full here," Emma said, nodding toward the still visible mess in Regina's foyer. "Let me and David handle this for now, alright? I promise I'll keep you in the loop."

"Fine," Regina agreed through gritted teeth. "But I want to know _exactly_ what's going on the _moment_ it happens."

"I promise." Emma grabbed her phone as it vibrated in her pocket. "It's David. I gotta go back to the hospital."

Regina nodded and gave a thin smile. "Fine. I suppose I really do have enough to deal with here."

"I'll call you."

With that, Emma was heading back through the house, towards the door. Briefly, she wondered if she should google proper crime scene procedure on her phone before going back, but she decided to wait and see what new evidence David had first. Maybe they'd lucked out and someone had come forward with vital information.

Maybe someone had confessed.

Emma smirked and shook her head as she got back into her car. Of course nothing like that could have possibly happened.

Nothing ever came _that_ easy to her.

* * *

 **To be continued…**

 **Let me know what you think so far :) And if you have any theories so far, feel free to share! This *IS* a twist on the Split Queen storyline, but I'm hoping the twist I'm giving it will be a surprise!**

 **And also, as always, feel free to send me asks about this story (or any of them) on tumblr. You can find me as rowark-sq**

 **Until next time….**


	2. Chapter 2

**Bpo1124, this one's for you :)**

 **Chapter Two**

* * *

To her surprise, when Emma arrived back at the hospital, David actually did have a new piece of evidence.

"This was on the ground under Whale's… corpse," David explained, handing Emma a plastic evidence bag holding a small flat object, like a card or slip of paper.

Emma cringed. "Let's, uh, let's stick with body, okay? Corpse is kind of… creepy."

David nodded his agreement as Emma looked down at the item in her hand. It was a card - more specifically a playing card - the ace of hearts.

"You think maybe this is some sort of calling card? Or, like, a clue?"

David nodded. "It seemed deliberately placed. It was face down, so there's no blood on the face of the card, and I've swept this entire office, there's no trace of the rest of the deck."

Emma nodded, staring down at the card. "Okay, so if we assume the killer left it behind, what does it mean?"

"You got me there."

* * *

Emma sighed as she drummed her fingers on the desk in her office, staring at the computer screen. "Ace of hearts," she read aloud, "symbolizing an ambition for money?"

"Whale didn't have much money," David noted, from his seat on the other side of Emma's desk. "In fact he owed money to quite a few people."

"Possible motive?" Emma suggested. "We should look into that."

David nodded, scribbling a note on the pad he was holding. "What else does it say?"

"Um… well, hearts can mean love or romance… jaded lover, perhaps?"

"Did Whale really have any lovers?"

Emma shrugged. "Not that I know of. It also says the ace of hearts symbolizes a new beginning… maybe the killer was being ironic? Placing a card for new beginnings when it was actually the end for Whale?"

David nodded again. "Yeah, we better not rule anything out just yet."

"Oh, I've got an email from the lab. Autopsy results," Emma said, clicking the new message open and scanning it quickly. "Um, it says blunt force trauma to the head, so Whale was likely unconscious for most of the attack. Actual cause of death, exsanguination."

"Ex-ang… what?"

"Exsanguination. It means he bled out."

"How do you know that?"

Emma shrugged. "I watched a lot of CSI when I was still living in Boston. Who knew it might come in handy one day?"

"Well, there was a lot of blood," David noted, as he watched a look of disgust forming on Emma's face. "What is it?"

"It says his heart was missing from his body. Oh my God, do you think the killer took it as a trophy, or something?"

David hesitated for a moment before answering. "You know, that sounds like someone we know."

"Don't say Regina. I _just_ saw her. She was bickering with her sister over something ridiculous. She didn't just get back from committing a murder."

"I'm just saying, Emma, the only people I've ever known to steal hearts are Regina and her mother."

"But Cora's dead, and they are hardly the only people who've taken a heart from someone's chest. Gold has. My God, _I_ have. Plus, you saw that attack. That wasn't magic. Even the coroner's report says there was a sharp object used, like a knife. It wasn't Regina."

David shook his head. "I want to believe that, too, but we have to consider everyone as a possible suspect, until proven otherwise."

Emma pursed her lips, knowing her father was right, even if she didn't want to admit it. Regina had literally _just_ ripped out all of her darkness. There was no way she killed someone.

Was there?

* * *

By early afternoon, Emma found herself in Regina's living room once again, relaying their most recent findings. Zelena listened in, a little too intently for Emma's liking, as Regina nodded, her face pensive.

"So you think the card is a symbol of something else?"

Emma nodded. "Some sort of clue, or something. I mean, at least I hope it is, because we've got nothing else to go on. Unless you think we can use a dreamcatcher to see Whale's last memories?"

Regina shook her head. "No, it doesn't work that way. It's odd though… magic must have been a factor, since no one entered or exited the office the traditional way, so why all the bloodshed?"

Emma shrugged. "Maybe it was personal and the guy wanted Whale to suffer?"

"Guy?" Zelena repeated. "So you know it's a man, then?"

"No, it's just statistically more likely. But we're not ruling anyone out just yet."

"So everyone's a suspect then?" Zelena's eyes lit up. "Oh, this is fun!"

"Forgive my sister," Regina said, shaking her head. "She's apparently finding motherhood a little dull compared to terrorizing the denizens of Storybrooke."

"Not dull, just… unexciting. This is intriguing, don't you think?"

"It's disturbing," Regina corrected.

"Anyway," Emma said with a sigh, "that's all we have for now. I'll keep you posted."

* * *

After two days with no more headway, Emma received a call just after 11pm. It was a Friday night, and she was still at the station scouring everything she could find about the habits of murderers, when the call came in, and she was greeted by Jefferson's panicked voice on the other end.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Emma insisted, after she caught almost none of what he's said the first time around. "Are you okay? Is Grace okay?"

"We're both fine," he said, after drawing in a deep breath. "But someone was in my house. They left a note, on a playing card."

"I'll be right there."

* * *

Emma made it across town in record time, and Grace was asleep curled up on the couch when Jefferson let her inside. It was slightly unnerving as Emma looked around the livingroom where she'd once been held captive, but she tried not to think about that. It was a long time ago, and Jefferson had been desperate, and clearly for good reason.

Still, she knew firsthand how maniacal he could get, and she wondered if she should have woken David up and brought him with her.

Either way, it was too late for that now, as she was here and Jefferson was shoving a playing card in her face, demanding to know what it meant. Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out the latex glove she'd thought to bring with her, and took the card from him.

"I don't want to mess up any prints, just in case," she explained. The partial print David had lifted from the crime scene in Whale's office and proven to be utterly useless, and Emma didn't want to risk losing any evidence this time around.

While all of Storybrooke knew of Whale's murder by now, they'd managed to keep two aspects secret from everyone but Regina and Zelena: the missing heart, and the playing card.

Emma studied the card in her hand now. It was the two of hearts, with one of the little red hearts scribbled out with what appeared to be permanent black marker. She frowned. _That_ had to mean something, though she still hadn't really figured out what the first card had meant.

She turned the card over, and sure enough, the pattern on the back looked just like the one from Whale's murder. It had to be the same deck. Across the back was scrawled a note in black ink: " _I will not leave an innocent child an orphan to punish her father for his sins, but know this: I will find a way to get my revenge on you."_

"It's the same guy who killed Whale, isn't it?" Jefferson demanded as Emma stared at the card.

Emma fought the urge to nod, since she was already convinced it was, but she couldn't incite that kind of panic. "I don't know. But, for now, I'm going to check for any signs of forced entry, and when I'm done just to be safe, I'm going to cast a protection spell over your house."

Jefferson looked like he wanted to object, but he simply nodded and allowed Emma to look around. He showed her exactly where he'd found the card, but Emma couldn't see a sign of anything out of place. Jefferson's house was immaculate, and there was no sign that anyone had been here. All the windows and doors were still locked, and Emma was starting to feel sick, thinking about how far in over her head she was.

She took a few photos with her phone, mostly for Jefferson's benefit, since she wanted to make it appear like she knew what she was doing, and then set about casting a protection spell over the house.

"Keep Grace inside, and call me if anything happens, or anyone out of the ordinary tries to contact you. I will solve this, I promise."

Jefferson nodded, though he looked less than convinced as Emma left the house. Emma supposed that was fair, since she didn't feel remotely convinced herself.

When she got back to her car, she placed the playing card inside an evidence bag as the realization hit her: they might very well have a serial killer on their hands.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: For anyone who is interested, I recently teamed up with Angstbot to collaborate on a humorous Swan Queen crack fic about lesbians who love lasagna, but since ffnet does not allow for co-authors, it's only on AO3, under either of our pseuds, under the title of "Recipe for Love, or: Lesbians and Lasagna"**

 **Because who doesn't love SQ fics filled with lesbians and lots and lots of lasagna?**

 **Chapter Three**

* * *

"Okay, so, I think we can rule out any specific meaning behind the ace of hearts," Emma said as she paced the floor in her office. It was well after midnight, but since neither her father or herself could sleep, they were back at the station, trying to piece the new evidence in with the old.

"I think you're right there," David agreed, turning the card still in the evidence bag over in his hand. "It looks like the killer is keeping count."

"Of hearts?"

"The once scratched out, that's got to be Jefferson," David specuated aloud, as Emma nodded. "So he got one heart, Whale's, and spared one heart."

"And how many is he going after?"

David shook his head. "I wish I knew."

"So, we've got to think: how do Whale and Jefferson fit together? They don't really associate with each other, or have any mutual friends… what about in the Enchanted Forest?"

David shrugged. "They aren't even from the same realm. But…"

"But what?"

"Well, Emma, you've read the storybook. They did work together once in the Enchanted Forest."

Emma thought for a moment, trying to remember. "Oh," she breathed, when it hit her. "To bring Daniel back to life. But dad, I'm telling you… it's not Regina. It can't be. I've seen her twice already today and she's not on a killing spree."

"Well, not the Regina you saw."

"You think her evil half is still out there? Dad… I saw her disappear into nothing. She's gone."

David sighed and shook his head. "Well, I just don't see any other explanation here."

"No, you're just jumping to conclusions. We can't just assume that Whale and Jefferson have no other connections to each other just because we don't know about it. We're the police, we've got to exhaust every possibility."

"You're right," David agreed, setting the card back down on the desk. "But I don't think there's any more we can do tonight. Tomorrow we'll start talking to people, conduct interviews, see what we can dig up. If there's a connection, we'll find it."

Emma had to admire her father's persistent optimism, even if she didn't share it. Truthfully, as they left the station that evening, she wasn't even remotely convinced that they'd find this connection.

* * *

Emma drew in a heavy sigh as she pulled the bug into the driveway of her new home. It had been weeks, but she still wasn't quite used to living here. It reminded her too much of the time she spent under the Dark One curse. She'd thought that might pass once Hook had moved in with her, but the two of them living under the same roof was only proving to create more unpleasant memories.

Of course, she'd known what he was like before he'd moved in. She hadn't assumed that he'd give up his rum or become the perfect housemate overnight, but as she stepped through the front door and immediately tripped over the boots he'd carelessly left right in the entryway, it occured to Emma that maybe her burning desire to stay at the station until all hours of the night might have more to do with than just this new case.

Hook was asleep on the couch, and Emma was careful not to wake him as she started picking up the various dirty plates and articles of clothing he'd left strewn around. It didn't seem to matter how often she reminded him that this wasn't his ship where he lived with a bunch of men who didn't care about the conditions of his living space, every time she came home it was the same thing.

She dropped the dishes in the sink quietly, vowing that she'd clean them tomorrow evening, unless by some miracle Hook decided take on that task tomorrow. She'd mentioned to him more than once that he had ample time, considering he didn't have a job, but he'd made some comment about how that was 'women's work', and though he'd insisted he was only joking when she'd gotten defensive, he still hadn't picked up any of the slack around the house to prove it.

Silently, Emma slipped up the stairs to the master bathroom, and started to draw herself a warm bath. It was one of the few things she did love about this place - the oversized clawfoot bathtub. It was deep enough for her to sink into up to her chin, and just forget about everything for a little while.

She added bath foam and some relaxing lavender oil as the tub filled, and then peeled off her clothes from the day. It seemed like weeks had gone by since she'd gotten dressed that morning and headed out for the day. So much had happened - too much - and this wasn't really how she'd hoped her day would be.

As she slipped into the tub, enveloping herself in the warm water, she immediately felt the stress of the day start to evaporate, and all thoughts of Whale and Jefferson disappeared from her mind, as her thoughts turned - as they so often did when she was alone in the bath - back to Regina.

She wished she could have talked to her more today. She knew it couldn't be easy dealing with everything she was at the moment, and a big part of Emma knew she'd be much more useful helping Regina right now than she'd ever be with a murder investigation. She cursed the terrible timing of it all, because she really would have much preferred to spend her afternoon or evening with Regina, than with her father at the station.

She ran her hands up and down her thighs under the water as she thought back to that night in New York, up on the rooftop when Regina had taken the serum to split herself in two. It was far from the first time Emma had seen the Evil Queen, but there had been something different that night. She'd seen something different in her eyes. Hurt, maybe? Betrayal?

Maybe it had always been there, and she hadn't noticed any other time since the Evil Queen had always been hellbent on destroying her.

Emma's hands drifted towards her pelvis as she closed her eyes and centered her attention on thoughts of the Evil Queen. There was something about her Emma found so fascinating. Ever since she'd fallen through the portal to the past and met her for the first time, she always lingered in the back of her mind.

Part of her - a big part of her - knew that thinking about her the way she often did was probably wrong. Not only was she the woman who'd terrorized and tried to kill her mother for years, she was _also_ the woman who would grow and change and eventually become just Regina. Her best friend.

It was easier to compartmentalize when she let herself think of them as two different people. Thinking about Regina like this, that was wrong. The Evil Queen on the other hand…

And, really, even Regina saw them as two different people. She'd ripped that part out of her and destroyed it. The Evil Queen no longer existed, she was just a memory. Just a fantasy.

And that's what Emma told herself as her fingers brushed over her clit. It's what she told herself every time she touched herself to thoughts of the Evil Queen. She wasn't _really_ Regina, not any more.

Who could really blame her anyway? The Evil Queen just radiated sexuality. And Emma was only human. She was a woman with needs that weren't being met, so what harm did it do to indulge?

When she came, she came silently, and let out a long sigh. It released some of the tension she'd been holding, at least, and she supposed at least now she'd be able to get some sleep.

She pulled the plug to let the water start draining from the tub, and got up to grab a towel. She tried off and slipped into an old oversized t-shirt, and crawled into her big empty bed.

Morning was going to come far too early, and after today, she wasn't sure if she even wanted to know what would be in store tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Morning came far too early.

Emma woke to the sound of her phone going off, and blinked, trying to orient herself. It was still dim outside, and she felt for her phone in the low light, and when she finally got a hold of it, she found it was the station calling.

"Fuck," Emma muttered to herself, and she swiped to answer. "What's up, Mulan?"

Mulan had started as a deputy but had taken on a larger role at the station while Emma and her father had been away, and now that they were tied up with this investigation, Emma was ever grateful for the extra help, though she knew a call this early couldn't be good.

"We've got another one," Mulan said simply.

"Another one?" Emma asked, hoping she didn't mean what she thought she meant. Mulan hadn't really been involved in the investigation thus far, so Emma held on to the shred of hope that it was just a poor choice of words and maybe she meant another dwarf incident that needed more than one person to break it up.

But, Emma never got off that lucky.

"Murder."

Emma sighed. "Who?"

"The Blue Fairy."

"Wait… what? How… she's a fairy for crying out loud… how could she be murdered?" Emma was still holding on tight to her belief that whoever the killer was, they were non-magical, but there was no way a mortal could murder a fairy, especially not one as powerful as the Blue Fairy, was there?

"I'm not sure. Nova called us, I haven't gone yet, I…"

"Right," Emma said, knowing that Mulan meant she didn't want to go alone. Emma couldn't blame her. Mulan hadn't seen the first crime scene, though she'd heard about how gruesome it was. It wasn't that Mulan hadn't seen her fair share of bloodshed in her life, but Emma knew too well that this was different. "I'll be right there."

Emma dressed as quickly as possible, standard tight jeans and a white tank under her red leather jacket, and threw her hair up into a messy ponytail before hurrying out the door. She only gave Hook a small glance, and noted that he hadn't moved a muscle all night. It would likely be several more hours until he woke, and no doubt started drinking all over again.

But that was a problem for later. She had more pressing issues to deal with now.

* * *

The sun was almost fully risen by the time Mulan and Emma pulled up at the convent. Nova, along with several other of the fairies, was outside, looking frazzled.

"Oh, Emma, Mulan, I'm so glad you're both here. It's… it's awful."

Emma just nodded as she and Mulan followed Nova inside, and through the long hallways to the Blue Fairy's large bedroom. The bed was made up, but Emma wasn't completely sure if the fairies actually slept, or if the bed was just a carry over from the curse.

Either way, it didn't matter, because moments later Emma's eyes became fixated on the form on the floor. Blue was laying contorted on the ground, similarly to how they'd found Whale, blood pooled all around her.

Emma swallowed as she allowed herself to look around the room. All the windows were closed tight, not surprisingly. "Did anyone see anything?"

Nova shook her head. "Some of us heard a scream, but by the time we located it, it was too late. Whoever did it was gone, and she was… well…"

"Right." Emma nodded. "Well, we'll have to call and ambulance to have her transported to the hospital for an autopsy."

"Oh, no, you can't do that," Nova replied, shaking her head.

"We need to. This is a murder investigation. You can still have a service for her afterward, and a burial…"

"No, Emma, you don't understand. She's a fairy, not a mortal. It's different for us."

"Different, how?" Emma asked, confused.

Nova smiled. "She'll be reincarnated, Emma. Once the sun rises fully, she'll vanish, and be reborn again, someday. This is why we had to call the moment we found her. Time was already running out."

Emma let out a long sigh. "Cool. That's not ideal, but…" Emma pulled out her phone and started taking some photos, to preserve as much evidence as she could before Blue disappeared.

And, just as Nova had predicted, as soon as the morning sun fully illuminated the room through the large windows, Blue's body began to glow, and slowly fade away. It was mesmerizing, and though Emma had never been particularly close to Blue, it was reassuring to know she wasn't really gone, forever. She was sure that was why Nova was beaming from across the room.

When it was over, Emma's eyes went right to what she'd guessed would be there. A playing card.

"What's that?" Nova asked, following Emma's gaze.

Emma didn't respond, but rather put on her gloved and picked up the card that was laying face down, and held it up for Mulan to see.

"Three of hearts," Mulan commented, nodding. David had already filled her in, and Emma decided not to explain it to Nova. The less people who knew about it, the better.

Emma also wasn't surprised to see one of the hearts crossed out in black marker. There was no question in her mind that the killer was keeping count, but the question still remained: how many more people were on the list?

In fact, the Blue Fairy's death only served to raise even more questions. She was magical, but her murder appeared anything but. Even without the autopsy, knowing exactly where to look, Emma had clearly seen that her heart, too, had been cut right out of her chest.

"Who could murder a fairy like this?" Emma asked suddenly, turning to Nova. "It appears non-magical, but how is that possible?"

Nova shook her head. "I've never seen or heard of anything like this," she admitted. "It shouldn't be possible."

Emma nodded. "So it has to be magic. Someone who can clearly use magic is just choosing to be as brutal as possible. But why?"

* * *

"The Blue Fairy," Regina said, shaking her head. After Emma and Mulan had finished processing the crime scene to the best of their abilities, Mulan had gone back to the station to fill David in, and Emma had headed to Regina's to keep her posted, as she'd promised she would.

"I really liked her," Regina continued, with a small shrug, "but I certainly never would have wished for this to happen."

"Yeah…" Emma said, nodding. "I mean, with Whale, the list of possible suspects was huge, but with Blue… it certainly narrows it down. There's not many I can think of who had a beef with her and…"

"And?" Regina prompted.

"And whoever it was, they had to have magic." Emma looked at Regina then, attempting to process her reaction to that.

"You don't think I'm a suspect, do you?" Regina asked, narrowing her eyes.

"What? No! God, Regina… if I did, do you think I'd be here sharing all this information with you?"

"So who, then?"

Emma chewed on her lip. If Regina wasn't going to suggest it, then she'd have to. "Uh… have you ever thought that maybe… what we saw in New York… you know, you're… other half… disappearing… maybe it wasn't exactly what we thought?"

"You think the Evil Queen is still out there? Is here?"

"I mean, is it completely out of the realm of possibilities?"

"You saw me destroy her," Regina pointed out.

"Yeah, but… didn't it seem too easy to you? And, really, how much do we really know about how that potion worked?"

"Oh, I see. So, you don't think it's me, but really, you think it's me."

"No! No, Regina, I don't think it's you. I don't think it's the woman sitting beside me right now. But… you said yourself how hard it was to fight back against those impulses you had. What if there were a version of you that was none of the woman sitting beside me right now, and only that dark impulse. No conscious, no self-control…"

Regina swallowed. "Well, then I guess we'd really see what true evil looks like."

* * *

It was only mid-afternoon when Emma got back home, but it had already felt like an eternity since she'd left that morning.

"Where've you been?"

Emma sighed as she caught the slight slurring in Hook's voice as she took her boots off at the door, and she knew he was already well into the rum.

"Working."

"That's all you ever seem to do these days, Swan. Work, work, work."

"Well, it's a hell of a lot more than what you do all day, isn't it?" Emma asked, making her way into the living room only to find more dirty plates and an empty bottle of rum on the coffee table. "Not all of us have the luxury of sitting around drinking all day."

"Well maybe I wouldn't have to drink all day if I wasn't left alone all day, would I? I moved in with a girlfriend, not a workaholic."

"Oh, so this is my fault, then? Do you have any idea how stressful this case is? Have you even been paying attention? There's a murderer loose in Storybrooke, so sorry if you have to keep yourself entertained while I'm out there keeping everyone safe."

"Murderer," Hook snorted. "Everyone knows it's either Regina or her sister. Maybe both of them."

Emma crossed her arms. "Oh yeah? Please enlighten me on how you solved his case sitting on your ass in front of the TV all day?"

"Well, it's not that hard to pin murder on a mass murderer, is it? You know what she was like after her first boyfriend died. What makes you think she's so different now?"

"Because I know her," Emma shot back. "And, she's not the only person in this town who's committed murder, is she?"

"Regina likes the darkness. She always has, and she always will. I don't care what parts of her she ripped out and destroyed because, guess what? She wasn't evil until she turned evil and she can do it all again, can't she?"

"You're drunk. Clean up your shit and talk to me when you're sober. I'm not listening to this."

With that, Emma turned to head for the stairs.

"Clean up your shit," Hook called after her. "You look like hell."

Emma closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she climbed up the stairs. Was this really what she'd travelled to the underworld for? As much as it pained her to admit it, maybe she would have been better to leave well enough alone. Maybe it wasn't just the Dark One curse that had made Hook say all those awful things to her in the past…

She tried to shake it from her mind. There were more pressing issues to deal with right now: not just solving a murder, well two murders now, but also making sure her best friend's name didn't get dragged through the mud in the process. Hook may have been drunk, but Emma knew he probably wasn't wrong in suggesting that most of Storybrooke was already blaming Reigna. They always did, didn't they?

She needed to get to the bottom of this, and fast. For the towns safety, and also Regina's.


End file.
